Hollow glass building block



Feb. 8, 1938. v B. F. HAzELToN, JR 2,107,994

HOLLOW GLASS BUILDING BLOCK Original Filed Oct. 1l, 1935 l XmmwJNVENToR.

lATTO NEY Patented Feb. 8, 1938vv `UlwTisD STATES PATENT oFFlcE toOwens-Illinois Glass Company,

tion of Ohio Appumion october 11, 1935, serai No. 44,511

Renewed Julyr 1s, 1931 7 Claims. (CL 'l2-41) not be affected by weatherand/or atmospheric conditions. To this end the invention contemplatesthe arrangement within a hollow block, of a translucent colored plate orsheet which functions to tint or color the exposed walls of the block. A

. Another object of the present invention is the provisin of simplemeans whereby any of an ininite number of colors may be imparted lto4the exposed walls of a building block. I n'accomplishing this, anydesired color may be obtained by arranging two ormore plates or sheetsof different color'in substantially parallel relation within'thehollowblock and different shades of any given color may be obtained byincreaSinK or decreasing the number of plates of one color used in asingle block.

A further object is the provision of novel means `for assembling abuilding block and plates or sheets of colored material whereby theplates will b securely held in .the necessary position.

To this end the invention provides for construction of the buildingblock from two cup-like pressed glass sections, arranging one or morepreheated colored translucent sheets within one or both of the blocksections while the latter are still hot and in a more or lesssemiplastic-state, uniting the edge portions of the, sections inA afashion to create a sealed chamber and annealing the completed block. Inthis fashion a glassto-glass bond between the marginal surfaces of thecolored plates or sheets and the cup-like sections is obtained. i s

A still further object is the provision of means for securing the blockand sheets together, involving more or less the equivalent of a spotwelding process in that the colored plate or sheet is attached to onewall of the building block by the use of small drops of molten glassplaced near the corners` and/or edge portions of the plate.

It is also an object of the present invention to so assemble hollowglass blocks and colored plates or sheets that they will be free toexpand and .contractmore or less independently of each other.

formed and in such fashion that the color will To this end the bondbetween the glass plates and blocks is restricted to a comparativelysmall area such that vany ordinary differential in the coefilcient ofexpansion vwill not detrimentally affect the structure.

Other objects will be in part apparent and in part pointed outhereinafter.v

In the'drawing:

Fig. l is a vertical transverse sectional 'view of a hollow glassbuilding blockwithin which a singie colored plate has been arranged.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of one of the cuplike sections showing themanner in which the colored plate is placed therein during themanufacturing operation.

Fig. 3 is asectional view similar to Fig. 1 showing two plates arrangedtherein, said plates be` ing of the same or different colors dependingupon the effects desired. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional viewillustra'ting the so-called spot welding method.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view showing blocks arranged insuperposed relation as in the formation of a building wall.v

comprising at least two parts adapted to be welded togetherand-providing means whereby priorto assembly, Qne or more plates orsheets of colored material may beplaced within and In Fig. 1, the blockIl is shown as comprising two substantially rectangular cap-likesections i l, each consisting of a vertical front wall I2, a pair oi'horizontal upper and lower walls i3 and Il respectively and verticalend'fwalls I5. Each of these sections preferably is formed or cleartransparent glass` (although the glass may be translucent) and is moldedfrom a. measured quantity or gob of molten glass in the customary or anypreferred manner.' Immediately after the sections are removed from theirrespective molds and prior to assembly in the fashion shown in Fig. 1, acolored sheet or plate I6 is placed within one of sections substantiallyas indicated, The plate is preheated to some extent and owing to thefact that the glass forming the cup-like section` is quite hot and in amore or less semiplastic state, there is'effected a permanent bondbetween the edge portions of the plate andthe inner surfaces of thewalls I3, Il and II in proximity to the front wall CII i2. Owing to thecomparative softness of the glass constituting the block section, themarginal portions of the plate may be embedded in the inner surfaces ofsaid Walls I3, I4 and I5. Preferably the plate is disposed in parallelspaced relation with respect to the front wall I2. Consequently, anydifferential in the coelcient of expansion of the two elements will haveno detrimental eiect upon the structure.

In Fig. 2 I have shown one of the block sections and a colored plateunited preparatory to the final assembly of the two sections incompleting a block. As stated above, the block section is in a more orless semiplastic condition and the plate is preheated to a comparativelyhigh temperature.

With the arrangement above described, the front wall I2 will be tintedor colored due to the location of the colored plate in close proximitythereto, the tinting being of a considerable deeper shade Within thearea defined by the walls I3, Il and I5. The marginal areas I1 (Figs. 1and 6), although tinted, `will be of a somewhat lighter shade than theremaining surface for obvious reasons.

In Fig. 3, I have shown the block I as including two cup-like sectionsII assembled with two opposed colored translucent sheets I8 or plates.These plates may be of two different colors, which together produce athird, or may be the same color and combined for the purpose ofproducing a comparatively deep shade of a given color. The plates maywell be secured in the block sections in the manner described above withreference to Figs. 1 and 2.

In Fig. 4, I have shown what has been referred to heretofore as the spotwelding process involving placing a few drops I 9 of low melting glassabout the inner surface of the front wall I2 and immediately thereafter,pressing the colored plate or sheet into rm contact therewith. Thus theseveral drops of glass and block section and plate will form a permanentunion in which the front wall I2 and plate are held in spaced relationat least in part by the drops I9 of glass. It is understood that as inthe preceding forms, the block section is in a more or less plasticstate and the colored plate 20 or sheet is preheated to a comparativelyhigh temperature.

In Fig. the superposed glass blocks I0 which are provided with coloredplates 2| or sheets, are united by mortar 22 including a coloringmaterial of a character to deepen the shade of the marginal areas I'I(Fig. 6) to substantially correspond with the shade of the remainingportions,

In view of the above, it is understood that the basic principle involvedin the present invention contemplates the arrangement within a hollowclear glass building block, of one or more colored translucent sheetswhich will tint or color the exposed surfaces of blocks built into awall structure so that the desired coloring or decorating eiects may beobtained.

Modifications may be resorted to within the spirit and scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

l. A hollow building block including a pair of opposed glass walls and acolored translucent sheet interposed between and disposed in substantialparallelism with at least one of said walls.

2. A hollow building block including a pair of opposed glass walls, acolored translucent sheet interposed between and disposed in substantialparallelism with at least one of said walls and means for effecting aglass-to-glass bond between the sheet and block.

3. A hollow building block including a pair of opposed glass walls, acolored translucent sheet interposed between and in parallel spacedrelation with at least one of the walls and means for securing the sheetin fixed relation to said walls.

4. A hollow building block consisting of a pair of substantiallyrectangular cup-like glass elements secured together and having opposedsubstantially parallel walls, a colored translucent sheet substantiallycorresponding in shape and dimensions with the inner surface of one ofsaid walls and means permanently securing the sheet in proximity toandin parallel relation with the inner surface of said one wall.

5. A hollow glass building block including a pair of opposed wallsadapted, when constituting part of a building wall, to form a part ofthe interior and exterior surfaces of the latter and colored translucentsheets supported within the block in substantial parallelism with saidwalls to tint saidopposed surfaces.

6. In combination, a plurality of hollow glass building blocks arrangedin superposed relation to form a wall of a building structure, coloredtranslucent sheets arranged within the blocks to tint portions of atleast one surface of the building wall, means securing the sheets inposition and mortar uniting the blocks and including a coloring materialfor imparting the desired color to portions of the structure.

7. A hollow building block including a pair of opposed glass walls, atranslucent sheet of one color supported in parallelism with and inproximity to the inner face of one wall and a translucent sheet of adifferent color or shade than the rst sheet supported in parallelismwith an in proximity to the inner face of the other Wall.

BENJAMIN F. HAZELTON, JR.

